City firefighter recruit fired, others resign in noose investigation

One firefighter recruit has been fired and three others resigned because of a noose found hanging over a black firefighter’s seat, Pompano fire officials say.

One firefighter recruit has been fired and three others resigned because of a noose found hanging over a black firefighter's seat, Pompano fire officials say.

An investigation into the noose, which was found at the Pompano Beach Fire Training Center, concluded Wednesday.

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Pompano Beach Fire Chief John Jurgle said he acted as soon as he heard last month about the racist symbol, which was directed at the only black recruit in a class of six. The noose was found June 7 on the recruits' last day of training, he said.

The noose is a symbol of racial hatred, representing the lynchings of blacks, particularly by mobs in the South after the Civil War.

"It's a very serious, unfortunate incident that happened," Jurgle said. "We're professional firefighters. We're not going to tolerate this kind of thing."

Jurgle started the investigation July 26. All of the recruits, except the victim, were suspended from duty the next day, he said.

The fired recruit, Matthew Reilly, referred questions to his lawyer, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Those who resigned amid the investigation were Kerop Berberian, Geandy Perez and Austin Sovay, the city said.

Reached for comment Wednesday, Sovay challenged the basis of the investigation. "It wasn't a noose," he said. "It was a fishing knot."

On the day the noose was found, each recruit was assigned some cleanup task to complete, Jurgle said. And the victim, Vilbert Green, left the room to do his task. And when he returned, he found the noose dangling over a chair and table, next to a paper nametag with Green's name on it.

Green snapped a picture of it. "He was not happy with what was done, but after taking the picture, he decided he didn't want to do anything with it," Jurgle said.

Later on, Green showed the picture to another firefighter outside of the class, according to the fire department's investigation. That firefighter was offended and tried to address it with the recruits himself, Jurgle said.